title: Cardiac surgery in a patient with severe thrombocytopenia: how low is too low?
abstract: Platelets play a very important role in hemostasis, especially after cardiac surgery. Excessive bleeding after such surgery may lead to increased need for transfusion and its incumbent increase in post-operative morbidity and mortality. Although most cardiac surgeons will offer a surgical option to a patient with moderate thrombocytopenia (platelet count around 70 × 10 9 /L), successful cardiac surgery has not been reported in patients with significantly lower platelets counts (less than 40 × 10 9 /L). We report a case of severe thrombocytopenia (19 × 10 9 /L) where coronary artery bypass grafting was performed with minimal blood loss post-operatively, discuss the patient's management and provide insights while dealing with such patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Heart and Lung Centre, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QP, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ashoub
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lakshmanan
authors.forename: Heyman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luckraz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D008297:Male; D010976:Platelet Count; D017713:Platelet Transfusion; D011300:Preoperative Care; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D014148:Tranexamic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents; D014148:Tranexamic Acid